The musings of a husband, father, and retired U.S. Army officer and public school superintendent.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Learning to Do: From Unschooling Rules

According to Clark Aldrich, schools spend most of their time focused on learning to know the knowledge that comes from textbooks, lectures and other instruction typically delivered by a teacher. Little time is spent on learning to do through skills that can then be applied in what he refers to as, "the productive world."

Aldrich provides an interesting list of 25 critical life skills which he claims are "seldom taught, tested, or graded" in schools:

Adapting

Analyzing and managing risks

Applying economic, value, and governing models

Behaving ethically

Being a leader

Building and nurturing relationships

Communicating

Creating or process reengineering new actions, processes and tools

Developing security

Efficiently meeting complex needs

Gathering evidence

Identifying and using boards of mentors and advisers

Maintaining and practicing stewardship of important systems and capabilities

Making prudent decisions

Managing conflict

Managing projects

Negotiating

Planning long term

Prioritizing tasks and goals

Probing

Procurement

Scheduling

Solving problems innovatively

Sourcing/buying/procuring goods and services

Using containment strategies

How do we move away from learning only what's tested in school to learning what will be tested in life?